The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

It was not until the carriage entered the dedicated passage and did not stop for a long time that Shen Tianjiao understood why they had to come in by carriage.

Because Ziyun Villa is so huge, if you simply want to rely on your two legs to walk, you may even break your legs before you reach the end.

Shen Tianjiao's carriage led the way, and Wang Zongyuan led a team of cavalry following closely behind, guarding and protecting them all the way.

I don’t know how long they drove, but Shen Tianjiao was already drowsy in the carriage when it finally stopped.

"Empress, we're here." When Li Ziyan's voice sounded outside, Shen Tianjiao woke up from her drowsiness.

Shen Tianjiao held onto her waist which was about to break, thinking that she had finally arrived. If she didn't reach the destination any further, her old waist would probably be broken.

Yu Po stepped forward to support Shen Tianjiao, and gently rubbed her waist with her hands to relieve the discomfort in her waist.

In fact, Yupo himself was also suffering from back pain at this time, and his whole body was uncomfortable.

This carriage is really not suitable for human beings to ride. It is much more painful than riding a horse. Yu Po now really admires those noble ladies who come to the capital.

When they travel, they often have to ride in a carriage for several hours, or even more than ten hours. How do they survive?

If it were me, I would have been unable to bear the pain of the bumpy ride and would have fainted on the spot.

Yu Po silently swore in her heart that she would never ride in a carriage again. If there was no horse to ride, she would rather walk than ride.

Shen Tianjiao got off the carriage, calmed herself down, and then looked up at the yard in front of her.

That’s right, the carriage took Shen Tianjiao directly to the yard where Li Xian lived, and Shen Tianjiao was not allowed to walk even a single step.

The grandeur of Li Xian's courtyard is truly incomparable to that of ordinary royal families.

It is no exaggeration to say that even the Yuxiu Palace where Shen Tianjiao lives is much inferior to this place.

"Your Majesty, please come in."

Li Ziyan spoke, interrupting Shen Tianjiao's gaze and bringing her back to reality.

"Well, let's go." Shen Tianjiao handed her hand to Yu Po, asked Yu Po to hold her, and followed Li Ziyan into the house.

The furnishings in Li Xian's house are all low-key and luxurious, but what doesn't match this low-key and luxurious feeling is the strong smell of Chinese medicine that can't be dispelled.

It was this strong, lingering smell of traditional Chinese medicine that gave the room an air of decay and decay.

"Is the Queen here?"

An old and weak voice came from behind the screen. Needless to say, it was Li Xian's voice.

After receiving a positive answer, Li Xian asked someone to help him up so that he could pay his respects to Shen Tianjiao.

But he was stopped by Shen Tianjiao. Li Xian is now very old and may die at any time. Shen Tianjiao didn't dare to trouble him to get up and pay his respects to her.

"Uncle, there's no need to be so polite. You're not feeling well, so just lie down and rest."

"If you have anything to say, just tell me. I'll be listening outside."

Shen Tianjiao did not use the etiquette between the monarch and his subject. She called Li Xian "uncle grandfather", which showed that she came here today not as the queen of a country, but as a junior member of the family.

Li Xian, who was behind the screen, was stunned by Shen Tianjiao's call of "Uncle". His body suddenly stopped and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.

Ever since he left the palace, built Ziyun Villa here, and started making a living by doing business, people have long forgotten his former identity.

Even he himself had forgotten that he was once a prince, and a prince who almost inherited the throne and became emperor.

Now Shen Tianjiao's call of "Uncle" awakened Li Xian's long-forgotten memories.

All the past glory and decline came to Li Xian's mind.

He took a moment to review his short yet long life, and couldn't help but sigh that life is indeed like a dream, fleeting, and when you wake up from the dream, you realize that everything is empty.

"Since the Queen Mother calls me Uncle, I would like to ask you to please move forward and come to my side. I have something to say to you."

Li Xian knew very well that his time was running out, and if he didn't say something now, he might never have the chance to say it again.

"Okay." Shen Tianjiao nodded and agreed without any hesitation.

Hearing Shen Tianjiao's agreement, Li Xian signaled for the screen to be moved away, and then ordered: "Except Zi Yan, everyone else should wait outside the yard."

As soon as Li Xian finished speaking, all the servants in the room left. For a moment, only Li Xian, Shen Tianjiao, Li Ziyan, and Yu Po and Wang Zongyuan, who came in with Shen Tianjiao, were left in the room.

When Shen Tianjiao saw Li Xian dismiss everyone in the room, she knew that what he was going to say next must be something very important and confidential.

So she turned around and ordered, "You two should go out first."

"That's fine, the two of them can stay."

Before Yu Po and Wang Zongyuan responded, Li Xian spoke first, "Since they can come with the Queen, they must be her confidants. It's okay for them to listen to what I say."

Although Li Xian said that Yu Po and Wang Zongyuan could stay, without Shen Tianjiao's order, the two did not dare to decide whether to stay or go on their own.

Only after Shen Tianjiao nodded at them did the two of them stay.

Shen Tianjiao did not stay outside, but went straight to Li Xian's bed.

Given Shen Tianjiao's noble status, this was originally inappropriate, but these old customs and practices were completely unimportant to Shen Tianjiao.

"Grandpa, if you have anything to say, just say it. I'm listening."

Seeing Shen Tianjiao walking straight in front of him, Li Xian was surprised and couldn't help but sigh that she was indeed worthy of being the daughter of the Marquis of Zhenbei.

This kind of unrestrained spirit is unmatched by ordinary people.

"My time is numbered, so I won't be polite to Her Majesty the Queen."

Shen Tianjiao doesn't care about these red tapes. If Li Xian still insists on being arrogant, it will seem that he, as an elder, is ignorant.

"Your Majesty, you know that I have accumulated a considerable fortune through my business ventures. However, alas, apart from this one standing before me, all my children and grandchildren are nothing but useless."

"I'm good at business, but I'm not good at managing my family. As a result, my children and grandchildren have become a bunch of useless people."

Li Xian looked up at Li Ziyan standing beside him, smiled bitterly and said, "This is the only one who is trying to make a name for himself, but he is such a miserable little bitter melon."

"His parents died early, and he has no one to rely on. Even if I leave all my property to him, he won't be able to keep it."

"So," Li Xian turned to look at Shen Tianjiao and said, "I've been thinking a lot these days, and after much deliberation, I've decided to give all my family property, including this huge Ziyun Villa, to the Empress."

"Let the Queen take this money and restore my Yun Li's century-old cause. This can be considered the last thing I do for Yun Li."

Li Xian's decision really shocked Shen Tianjiao.

Originally, Shen Tianjiao thought that Li Xian insisted on seeing her because he probably wanted her to clean up his family and drive out all those people who were not ambitious and coveted his family business.

Then he would appoint a new heir and ask me to protect this heir and help him gain a foothold in Yunli.

But who would have thought that Li Xian would actually give all the foundation he had accumulated after working hard for half his life to himself, so that he could use it to recover Yunli.

At this moment, Shen Tianjiao really didn't know what to do.

Seeing Shen Tianjiao's astonished expression, Li Xian smiled and said, "Empress, I did this sincerely and without any ulterior motive."

"If I truly have a selfish motive, it's only one. I don't want the family fortune I've painstakingly accumulated over decades to fall into the hands of those unfilial descendants who commit crimes and those evil people with ulterior motives."

"I've been in business all my life, but I don't have many friends, and even fewer confidants."

"Your grandfather, the old Zhenbei Marquis Shen Yuhe, counts as one, and your father, the current Zhenbei Marquis Shen Lin, also counts as one."

Li Xian's words confused Shen Tianjiao.

Everyone knows that Li Xian was defeated in the battle for the throne, and the old Marquis of Zhenbei, Shen Yuhe, played an indispensable role.

If Shen Yuhe had not chosen to stand on the side of Emperor Gaozu, Li Xian would not have been defeated and lost everything in the fight over there.

As the current ruler of the Zhenbei Marquisate, Shen Lin also suppressed Li Xian over the years in order to help the late emperor consolidate his power.

In the eyes of the world, this should be a relationship of mutual hatred between enemies, but how come Li Xian turned it into a relationship of good friends?

Shen Tianjiao was confused for a moment, and then she immediately understood what was going on.

Perhaps the fighting and targeting that outsiders see are just an illusion, and none of it is real.

It is more likely that those fights and targeting were often actually a form of protection for Li Xian.

Li Xian smiled when he saw Shen Tianjiao's confusion and then her sudden realization. This girl was indeed a smart person.

No wonder he was able to replace the incompetent Li Rui and govern Yunli's court so well.

"In the battle for the throne back then, it wasn't that I didn't have a chance to win, but I gave up on it myself."

Li Xian decided to resolve all the doubts in Shen Tianjiao's mind, so he brought up the past events that he had forgotten for many years.

"Ever since I was little, I've had no interest in the meaningless struggle for imperial power. Compared to life in the palace, I actually yearn for the freedom outside the palace more."

"This is because my mother was not born into a noble family, nor was she a woman from a powerful family."

"She came from the common people. Although the cage of the palace imprisoned her, it could not imprison her heart that yearned for freedom."

"From her, I learned about the outside world and began to yearn for it."

"But the good times didn't last long. Because I was the eldest son of Emperor Taizong, I was fostered under the name of the Empress at the time and became the eldest son."

"And my mother died of a sudden illness in the summer of the year I was fostered under the Empress's name and became the eldest son."

"As for whether she died of a serious illness or was murdered, that's unknown. After all, the same drama, with different purposes but the same outcome, is played out every day in the palace. The fun never stops."

"Although my mother is dead, the seed of longing for freedom that she planted in my heart is gradually breaking through the soil and growing."

"In my third year of being fostered by the sonless Empress, the eldest son, at the age of nine, I ascended to the throne of Crown Prince with the help of the Empress's brother, my uncle, the King of the Opposite Sex, Changle, Wang Jinghuai."

"It was also in that year that I met your grandfather Shen Yuhe."

"We hit it off right away and quickly became close friends, but because we wanted to avoid suspicion, we could only protect each other's friendship behind closed doors."

"I have been sitting on the throne of the crown prince for fifteen years."

"Until that day, my second brother, who was born only two months after me, rushed into the palace with the murderous aura he had just quelled from the battlefield."

"He pointed his sword at our father, who had grown old and no longer possessed the dignity of an emperor, and forced him to write a decree of abdication."

"In order to calm the situation and prevent further deaths, I stepped forward and offered to give up my position as crown prince to my second brother."

"Even though my father is old and has lost his imperial dignity, he will never allow such a reversal of the order of seniority to occur."

"So I firmly disagreed. But if he didn't agree, not only would I die, but my brothers would die too."

"The second son has been a ruthless person since he was young. For the throne, he will never show mercy to anyone."

"So I persuaded my father, the emperor, and asked Shen Yuhe's father, the empress's great-grandfather, to help."

"Finally, after weighing the pros and cons, my father agreed to abolish my title of Crown Prince and appoint my second son as Crown Prince instead, allowing him to naturally become Emperor."

"The Queen should know everything that happened afterwards."

"I've been able to survive safely all these years since I left the palace, and even to own such a large family business. To this day, no one dares to touch me except that blind Li Xuan. The reason is because of the oath my father forced the second brother to swear."

"There is another more important reason, and that is the protection of the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion."

"From the Empress's great-grandfather all the way to your father, I have been protected by three generations of Zhenbei Marquis to get to where I am today."

“If I hadn’t been protected by the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion, I wouldn’t have had any suspense back then, and I wouldn’t even have been able to get out of the palace.”